Nanocomposite structures grown by inserting ionic salt RbNO3 into van der Waals gaps of III-VI compound layered semiconductors

The p-GaSe and n-InSe nanocomposite materials were prepared by inserting ionic salt RbNO3 from the liquid phase between layers of the layered crystals. Using this method a new technique will be available to fabricate nanocomposite structures with different morphologies. We have obtained self-organized structures that consist of a layered matrix and arrays of nanorings and nanowires formed from solid ionic salt RbNO3 nanocrystals on the atomically smooth van der Waals (0001) surfaces of layered semiconductor crystals. Atomic force microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and impedance spectroscopy are used to characterize morphology, chemical composition, and structural and electrical properties of the grown materials. In this work, we study the role of structural properties in the electron/ionic carrier transport in the anisotropic nanocomposite structures. The enhancement in DC conductivity with respect to the pure high-resistance GaSe crystals observed for the nanocomposites is explained on the basis of the creation of nanoscale defects on the VDW surface. The maximum enhancement in DC conductivity was observed for GaSe nanocomposites containing Ga2O3-RbNO3 branched nanowire networks.